Chat Camaieu
by Cocomilk
Summary: Once upon a bad dream... there was a villain whose sheer presence evoked the deepest fears of those who sleep. One harmless nightmare can pull the trigger and haunt you down for the rest of your life. Marinette never really cared about her bad dreams. That is... until her greatest nightmare came true. Nightmares don't just last until dawn, apparently. Series will be continued.
1. Chapter 1

_**Miraculous Tales of Ladybug & Chat Noir**_

 _ **Prologue**_

She had lived many dreams in her nights, while sleeping in her civilian form as Marinette.

True, most of them had always been pleasurable dreams. Happy dreams. Dreams full of love and hope and friendship, filled with her friends and family, with Adrien and everyone she dearly loved and held close to her heart.

But then, every once in a while there were other dreams that crept to the surface of her tender sleep. Dreams ( can she even call them so?) she could live without actually, that emerged from the depths of her inconsciousness where her greatest and most untamed fears wandered around vivadly, nursing themselves from her memories of every crime, every villain she had fought against as the legendery and unbeatable Ladybug.

Never could she have imagined to find herself in one of them.

There she stood. Motionless. Voiceless. Her blue eyes wide open in horror. Her arm, her hand, its skin well hidden under the tight fitting red black spotted spandex, extanded to the person standing several meters in front of her.

People were running, pushing, colliding into one another. Their sheer fear made it impossible for them to stay calm or even take notice of her; her, standing in the middle of a field, surrounded by screaming flowers that floated away with the wind, leaving her alone. A single flower on an endless meadow.

"Chat!" She heard a voice calling out for him, its anger and irritation passing through its vocals. Not in the slightest did she move to see whose voice it was that refferred so harshly to her silly kitty. As if under Medusa's spell, she could do no less than stay still and motionless, as if she had litteraly turned into stone.

"What on earth has gotten into you?! You are RUINING this party! And what happened to your clothes?"

"I see the Vixen has arrived!" Simply replied the white masked blonde, without caring much to respond to the questions the red haired girl had posed him.

He turnd to the circular glasstable that stood in the centre of the room, directly in front of the two spandex wearing girls. Just like a cat, he gracefully pounced on top of it, standing on both feet. He tapped his white cylinder again and bent down a little his head, making golden strands of hair fall into his piercing emerald eyes.

He elegantly kicked a vase full of beautiful cream white orchids off of the table, making space for his own person in the middle of it.

He wore an elegent white tailcoat, matching white trouses wrapped around his slim figure combined with white patent leather shoes that reflected the light of the lamps. His attached cat ears were no longer black, but white and turned to the back. On his head he balanced masterfully a white cylinder from which emerged his angelic locks. His mischievous face was covered with a snow white mask.

" _Moi, je suis Chat Blanc!_ " Declaired the white masked boy, smiling brightly and tilting his head backwords, holding out his arms. An evil laugh escaped his lips. "And I will end you tonight!"

"Chat?" It was her first word she had said after transforming into Ladybug. Intentionally she had meant for it to sound strong and sever; instead it turned out weak and hoarse, like the meow of a lost kitten, standing drenched on the middle of a street in the pouring rain, forgotten by the world.

He froze; his cruel laughter died down and he stiffly remained in his pose, head still tilted back, evil smirk engraved on his lips. His wide opened arms dropped to his hips, but for the rest he did not move.

She held her breath, the fox girl too, anxious to know what would happen next.

Slowly his head tilted forwards, his long golden strands framing his handsome visage. He watched her mischievously, his eyes nothing but two green shaded slits.

" _Ma Dame_."


	2. Chapter 2: Late night in Paris

**Chapter One: Late night in Paris**

" _Ma Dame_."

With a cry that cut through the secrecy of her room, Marinette shrieked out of the nightmare that had haunted her for the whole night, not letting her escape once out if its firm grip it had woven around her mind.

"Marinette!" Tikki, the little red black-spotted kwami that held the source of the power of Ladybug, was right by her side, floating midair directly in front of Marinette's face, eyeing worriedly her black haired keeper.

"Marinette?"

Marinette didn't answer her little fellow, nor did she take cognizance of her. Her breath was shaky, her hands trembling, her body sweat covered and her pajamas drenched. Never had Tikki seen her in similar conditions, not even after fighting a very dangerous and powerful akumatized villain.

The worst though were her eyes. Her blue orbits were two small disks in a sea of white. Her usual sky blue irises were darkened, nearly black because of the still lingering shadows that were roaming through her head.

"Please, Marinette" begged the little kwami desperately, touching fondly Marinette's hand as if to calm down her nerves. "Tell me what's wrong!"

"Chat Blanc!" she sobbed and Tikki flinched back at the sudden outburst of a still trembling Marinette and the kwami was certain now had come the moment she would burst into tears, perhaps letting her finally know the reason to her tormented being. A shiver rose through Marinette's body and instinctively she drew back her knees to her chest, resting her sweat covered forehead on them.

"Marinette!" Cried out loud the alarmed kwami, flying around the whimpering girl's head. After several laps and still no answer from her Ladybug, Tikki landed softly on the girl's trembling shoulder, risking more than once to fall down.

"Marinette, let me help you!" Tikki eyed her worriedly "Who is Chat Blanc? " She touched Marinette's pale cheek with her fragile limbs.

"I don't know." answered the girl after several minutes of silence. Her sobs came to calm down and her trembling started to become less as well, luckily for Tikki that felt as if being on a ship out on the sea during a horrid storm. "I really don't know." Repeated Marinette and for the first time she turned her head towards Tikki, still sitting on her shoulders, at the same eyelevel. "I think I just had a nightmare, Tikki." For a moment only Marinette's shaky breathes were to be heard.

"What happened in your dream?" finally asked Tikki, whispering the question into the girls ear, caressing Marinette's cheek " Why were you screaming? And most importantly, who is this Chat Blanc you were calling out for?"

Marinette's blue eyes were locked on the floor while she hid half of her face in the crook of her elbow that was resting on her withdrawn knees.

"Chat Blanc" mumbled Marinette half-heartedly and absent minded. Images of Chat Blanc's face popped up in her memories and her heart ached because of the huge resemblance this villain had with...

Instinctively she shut her eyes closed and let out a deep frustrated sigh, letting herself fall backwards on the mattress and her pink pillows that were spread out everywhere.

She felt Tikki floating above her head, waiting for more details to come. So she started to replay the whole scenario she had witness in her dream.

"There was this fancy room," she started, remembering the place she had found herself in, filled with people elegantly dressed, drinking out of crystal wineglasses and conversing while eating caviar and sea fruits. "all these people around me, dressed nicely, talking, chatting, laughing a snobbish laugh here and there when suddenly..." She remembered the noise that had suddenly filled her ears and people crying out. "These people just started screaming and running towards the exits, terrified to death because of something, or rather someone I couldn't see at first." Marinette slowly opened her eyes, expecting to see Tikki right in front of her. Instead she gazed at the trap door on her roof, that was situated exactly over her bed.

"I was there." She proceeded slowly, taking deep breaths in her lungs. "I was there, in the crowd, among those terrified people. I was Ladybug, face masked and yo-yo rapped around my waist and I saw the terror spreading from person to person. But I couldn't move..." Her voice broke in the middle of the sentence, while fresh tears filled her haunted eyes once more.

"Continue, Marinette." only Tikki's pleading voice reached Marinette's ears, but her little kwami stayed out of eyesight.

"I saw _him_..." On tear escaped her lashes and rolled down her cheeks, like a marble of glass. She covered her eyes with her small and delicate hands, wanting to escape from the returning visions of her nightmare. But if anything the utter darkness that befell her sight only intensified the vivid image of the strange boy with cylinder and white cat ears that remembered her so much of Chat. _Her_ Chat.

"Golden locks, big green cat like eyes, cat ears attached to his head, mask on his face, golden bell tied around his neck..." Single tears were streaming down her cheeks and she noticed, she had come to hug one of her pink pillows, pressing it desperately to her chest. She didn't know why all this affected her that much. It shouldn't, she knew that. And she didn't like that it _did_ move her this way. It was just a dream, she continued to repeat to herself over and over, _nothing of this ever happened, nor will ever happen._ But exactly that point was what scared her this much: the uncertainty that something like her nightmare might _really_ happen one day. That one day, she would lose him...

"It was _him_!" she whispered, remembering the features of the boy she had dreamt about, recalling his hair and his eyes and his smile and his voice. " I have no doubt it was _Chat Noir_. But all in white! "She was heaving by now, pressing the pillow to her mouth, trying to suffocate her pain.

She took in a desperate deep breath of air while her eyes darted frantically from side to side.

"He had turned evil."

Marinette sat up, searching frantically for Tikki that she found lying on her pillow right next to her.

"You said kwami holders cannot be akumatized! You said we were... immune to Hawk Moth's butterflies!" Marinette's big baby blue eyes were wide open and starring directly in Tikki's gaze. "Tikki, is it possible for a miraculous holder to become possessed? Is it possible that maybe, sometime in the future, Chat Noir could possibly become ... _bad_?"

Silence filled the gap between Marinette and Tikki bright blue orbs, each of them frozen in the moment.

"No." answered Tikki , after having found her voice once again, eyes still wide open in shock of Marinette's outburst. "It is not possible for an akuma to possess a miraculous holder. "

Marinette slowly lost her focus on Tikki and lowered her gaze, recovering from her feverish state.

"Yeah, of course Tikki. I know that." she whispered rather bewildered. She slid her legs over the edge of her bed, standing up on shaky limbs. She slowly made her way over to the window, Tikki's gaze following her every move.

She had woken up unusually early this morning, due to the nightmare she had had. The first early rays of sunlight already started to make their way into her room. She rarely got the chance to see the beauty that hold the early morning, due to her late night patrols and her catching up on homework. She usually was so exhausted by the end of the night (early morning hours sometimes), she wondered how she managed to drag herself out of bed when her alarm went on, having maybe slept only five hours at all. And still, she carried on with her day to day routine, altering from a normal teenager life to her secret identity superhero living.

There she stood, the girl with the nightmare, that was also Ladybug, expecting the rise of a new day with her arms crossed in front of her chest. Her cheeks were covered with salty trails of her recent tears.

"Marinette?" asked Tikki, very concerned for her precious Ladybug. She flew next to Marinette, her limbs held together. "There is no absolute way, that Hawk Moth could be able to akumatize a miraculous holder. People are easily influenced, that is why akuma's have it easy to possess normal people around Paris. But miraculous holders must be different from the average people. A miraculous holder must be strong and loyal and faithful and determined. His or her heart must be pure and sincere, free from all evil. Only then can this person become a miraculous holder. That's each single one of us kwami's responsibility: to choose a keeper who's heart is in the right spot."

Marinette sighted. "I know, Tikki. It just felt so ... _real_."

"I do know that Pla... I mean, that Chat's kwami is not the most disciplined of us all, but during the centuries I have met many Chat Noir's and NEVER has one of them become evil, Marinette." Stated Tikki as a matter of fact, determination widely spread across her small face.

"I guess he has done his job just as good as I have. And I am more than faithful that also his current keeper is worth to wear Chat Noir's ring. Just as you are worthy wearing Ladybug's earrings."

Marinette didn't turn to her kwami when Tikki had finished talking, but remained stiff and silent, her gaze lost to where the horizon reunited earth and sky. "I know you're right, Tikki. And I do have faith in you and the other kwami's. I am more than sure that you choose your keepers wisely." She turned her head towards her floating company. A sad smile crossed her lips. "What scares me most is... losing him. What would I do if Chat Noir _really_ became evil? What do I do then?" she hugged herself, trying to cover her still slightly shivering body.

"Chat Noir would never do something like this to you." declared Tikki in defense of the black knight, crossing her limbs in front of her chest. "He cares too much about you."

The top of the sun was rising above Paris' skyline, and the first true sunrays hit her orbs, making her head turn once more towards the window which showed her the sun died sky which had turned pinkish red and... beautiful. She inhaled and absorbed the warm touch of the sun, bright, but not blinding, not yet at least. The last remaining shadows of the night disappeared from the streets of the city, but those which had haunted Marinette in her dreams were still lingering in her mind, hiding themselves among thoughts and memories, seeding their fear that would soon blossom if properly fed with doubt.

Marinette tried not to think about Chat Noir anymore. In fact, that kitty had cost her way too much sleep for today. She looked out of the window for a bit, before nodding.

"In any case," she said, trying to convince herself of it "it was just a dream."

Though she woke up early, Marinette still managed that day to be late for a certain "great" announcement a blonde girl in her class was holding...A certain blonde girl that held the nickname (among her classmates and obviously to her own unknown) la peste...

* * *

 _Ordinary people._..she thought, standing in the front of her class, watching her unruly classmates talk to each other, laugh and joke, making embarrassing noises, snickers and whatsoever. She observed them quietly, her arms crossed in front of her chest, her foot tapping impatiently on the floor. Her thin brows were drawn together, her eyes, cold as ice, wandered disgustedly from one person to the other.

Sabrina, her loyal _laquais_ , sat stiffly and expectantly on her seat, waiting enthusiastically for Chloé's big news to be officially announced. Kim and Alix were feverishly debating about a new bet, while Max was forced to be the referee, therefor having to listen to the whole arrangements and set up rules of the two candidates. Rose and Juleka sat at the back of the classroom, talking about movies and new songs they have listened to recently. Though their personalities were quite different (in fact, one was the opposite of the other) the two girls got extremely well together.

 _Why do I even endure these people?_ Asked the arrogant blonde herself while her eyes skipped to the next pair of classmates. Mylène and Ivan, the class' favorite couple, were sitting next to each other, hand in hand, talking quietly, sharing lovely glances to one another. Chloé had to control herself not to make a disgusted face. She decided, it would be the best to skip straight to the next row. Nathanael, the red haired that sits shyly in the back of the class, was bent down on his table, hand drifting from one side to the other, dragging a green pen along. He was certainly working on a new drawing and Chloé swore under an evil snicker, if it was another drawing of him and Marinette, she wouldn't let him live it down this time.

Alya and Nino were talking among themselves, surly about the newest news about Ladybug, she guessed, due to Alya's particular enthusiasm.

She raised an eyebrow, tapping her index to her chin. _Someone_ was missing. Someone, but _who_?

Her icy stare hovered one more time over the class, giving her classmates goose bumps and shivers running through their bodies, as if Jack Frost had just entered their class.

Her eyes fell on the empty seat next to Alya's. _Marinette_ it stung her _Marinette Dupain- Cheng._ The only one missing and probably going to be late to class was her. Chloé glanced sideways to the door. It was closed. And there was no sight of any teacher coming to class, nor of Marinette.

The blonde's grin became more wicked.

Perfect she thought.

"My dear classmates!" Declared the blonde suddenly to the whole classroom "I, Chloé Bourgeois, the Mayor's daughter, one of you beloved classmates and school companions, am proud to announce you that this Friday, I will be celebrating my 16th birthday!" With those words, the blonde raised her hands in the air, waiting for some kind of reaction from her audience. A few seconds passed and yet, the class remained silent. No cheers were raised in her honor, no "congratulations!" were expressed (true, it wasn't her birthday yet, but anyway...). The only one that showed some kind of reaction was Sabrina, her loyal slave... friend, clapping frantically with excitement her hands. Chloé shot an irritated glance to her other classmates. Every single one of them was watching her in utter silence, staring at her with inexpressive eyes, blinking a few times. Among the silence Alix blew up her chewing gum and popped it while watching her boredly.

"Am i surrounded by idiots or what?" she mumbled dangerously under her breath.

"Anyway," she proceeded "professionally", not letting herself get too frustrated by her classmates' behavior "To this _grand occasion_ , my father, the Mayor of Paris, will hold a birthday celebration _seulement pour moi,_ to which _several_ of you will be invited to. Your invita..."

"Hold it there, Chloé." Interrupted Alya Chloé's speech. "Are you honestly announcing this grand _événement_ to the whole class and intend to NOT invite all of us? That is just rude, Chloé!"

Chloé rolled annoyedly her eyes. She should of have known Alya would make such a drama out of it.

"Not all of you are meant to be close to me. Indeed, I can't be _everyone's_ friend, that would be sheer _fatiguant_. I had to choose the people that are dearly important to me and my family. Certain of you, because of your parents social league, will receive their respective invitation during the course of the following week." Just as Chloé finished the sentence, none other than Adrien Agreste opened the door, entering the classroom. All eyes darted to him, standing petrified on the doorframe.

"Huh..." He stammered, quite taken back by the strange "greeting" he received from the class. "Hi?"

Chloé couldn't resist but to immediately take advantage of the handsome blonde Agreste (which she hadn't even noticed had been missing).

"Yours are going to be the first ones to be sent, Adrien." she promised, winking at him flirtatiously. Rather timid and quizzically, not having understood to what exactly Chloé was referring to, Adrien decided to just smile at the tall blonde, ignoring her advances, thanking her for... whatever and walk to his seat, eager to ask Nino about further details. Chloé's eyes lingered wickedly on his figure, until he had seated down on his usual seat in the first row.

"A-as I said" she stammered, returning to her public announcement. "Some of you will receive invitations at home. Others, the less luckier ones of you" Her eyes glided over to Ivan and Mylène. "Will just have to hope for next year's invitation."

The students exchanged worried glances and each one mumbled their own opinion under their breath.

"I repeat it one more time, Chloé: if you hadn't had the intention on inviting the whole class to your party, you shouldn't have made such a big deal out if it in front of everyone. There is no need to hurt anyone's feelings, you know?" puffed Alya, arms propped up against the surface of the desk.

Just in that moment, the door slammed open once more, stealing the class's attention from Chloé one more time, while again all stares darted to the interrupter.

" _Bonjour_." greeted a still panting Marinette. Chloé just rolled her eyes at the raven haired girl, but Marinette didn't even notice. The first person her eyes landed on was Adrien, whose vivid green orbs were watching her back, a hint of amusement blinking in the corner of his eye. For the blink of an eye, his gorgeous face had turned into the one she was most familiar with. But just as fast as it had appeared, her vision of Chat Noir had vanished in her thoughts, leaving a rather startled Marinette still staring at Adrien who was smiling at her encouragingly, fastening her heartbeat in doing so and lightening up her heavy chest.

"Would you mind, _Dupain-Cheng?_ " A voice interrupted her thoughts. Standing in front of her, a foot impatiently stumping against the floor, was a crossed looking Chloé, hands pressed against her hips and an angry glare reflecting in her eyes.

Marinette shook her head vehemently and she hasted towards her seat right next to Alya, ignoring completely her classmates' confused looks about her rather strange behavior. She didn't even dare to look at the blonde who was the cause of her weird acting, in fear of his reaction.

Quietly she sat down and hid her face in her hands, feeling rather embarrassed about having stared so openly into her crush's eyes. But at the same time irritation rose up in her as she recalled remembering for a split of a second Chat Blanc's face All she could think of was how she could have possibly thought of Chat Noir while looking into Adrien's ( _for heaven, Adrien's_!) emerald eyes. What was her problem today?! She knew she had dreamt about an akumatized Chat Noir, but why had Adrien reminded her all of a sudden of her silly kitty?

Somehow the discussion between Alya (who hadn't said anything yet to Marinette, but that would surely pester her about her strange acting during lunch time) and Chloé had proceeded and her classmates had stopped throwing glances at her, rather listening to the whole drama in class. Just one person kept on throwing curious glances over his shoulders, towards the girl with the sky blue.

"I cannot invite everyone to my birthday party." declared Chloé with a high pitched voice, snapping everyone's attention back. "I don't want to overburden my two most important guests with the presence of simple middle school students such as you are."

"But you're a middle school student just like us." interfered Nino, not really thinking about what he just said. Chloé looked at him in utter shock. Then she threw her chin high in the air, as if offended by his remark.

"Come on, Chloé! We can have so much fun together!" Stated Alya, wanting to reason with the blonde haired. "It's not like the pope himself will come to your birthday party..."

"But Ladybug and Chat Noir!" She exclaimed, stumping heavily her foot on the floor in rage, her hands clenched into fists and her teeth showing like a dog about to jump on you and bite your throat.

Alya's jaw dropped in shock, while everyone stared at the blonde, speechless. Only two people in the whole classroom were able to make a sound come through their lips, making everyone flinch and turn to the odd couple that had raised their voices in absolute astonished synchronization.

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Marinette and Adrien, standing behind their desks, green and blue eyes shot open as if death was standing personally in front of them.

"Don't look at me like that!" she finally called out, apparently getting uncomfortable with the sheer awkwardness she has gotten herself into. "They saved me numerous times... they have gotten good friends of mine by now. Especially Ladybug."

The blonde walked back to her seat and sat down, arms crossed.

As if on cue, for the third time this morning, the door slammed open and the teacher entered the classroom, forcing the class to take out their books and finally start the lesson for today. Loud groans came from her classmates' mouths and even Adrien mumbled some complains under his breath while he sat back down on his seat, preparing himself for today's lessons.

She hesitantly sat back down too, her eyes glued on the back of Chloé who acted as if nothing had happened, ignoring Marinette completely. As if she hadn't been used to that by now...

With Alya's help, and a sever glance from the teacher, Marinette managed to retrieve her books from her backpack and follow the lesson like all the others were doing. Still, the presence of the teacher didn't stop her from throwing evil stares at Chloé every now and then, fuming at the thought about having to attempt her stupid party as Ladybug when the girl behind the mask was actually hated by the same person who adored her alter ego so much.

"Stop it, Marinette." Whispered Alya who pretended to take notes of whatever the teacher was talking about. " You'll just get wrinkles on your skin this way."

If the teacher hadn't come into class, Marinette was sure she might have committed murder.

* * *

That Tuesday evening Marinette, in the form of Ladybug, sat quietly on a rooftop, her feet dangling over the edge while her sky blue eyes watched the full moon hover over the glowing city, trying to touch the tip of the gold radiating Eiffel tower. Hundreds of stars glimmered over the city and for the first time, in the middle of this Parisian night, she finally felt at ease. All those questions about Chloé's birthday party ... gone for a brief moment.

All her worries got erased as she slowly slowly drifted into peace.

Quite content of her peaceful state, Marinette let a sigh escape her pinkish lips and she proceeded adoring the city of Love from afar.

She rose her head, looking up into the sky and closed her eyes, treasuring the beauty of this evening. Only rarely could she spend some time alone and enjoy herself.

A nightly breeze ran up her spine, giving her soft chills. She felt the invisible hands of the wind play with her hair, messing her hairstyle. But she didn't care. It didn't matter to her even a bit, as long as this precise moment of calmness would last.

"What's that Lady of mine doing, sitting lonely and thoughtful on a forgotten rooftop of Paris and watching the moon traveling through the sky?" She didn't had to turn around to know who it was that had appeared behind her, apparently out of nowhere.

Her heart skipped a beat as Chat Blanc's image reappeared in her mind.

"Chat" she acknowledged his presence, her voice a little shaky as suddenly her nightmare struck once more her mind, reminding her of Chat Blanc.

She heard his footsteps come closer to her, but she still didn't turn around to see him. Her eyes remained closed, trying to avoid looking into his green eyes that knew her too well to hide something from him. Her heartbeat had noticely increased in the last thirty seconds and a little nervousness had crept back to her heart.

 _And here we go again_...she told herself, rather annoyed while waiting for Chat to come closer.

He knelt down and sat himself right next to her, one foot dangling from the rooftop just like hers, the other one was sat on top, his knee bent into the air, his elbow resting on top of it.

There they sat, together in pure silence, making each other company. She still hadn't opened her eyes, somewhat afraid to find herself looking into the eyes of Chat Blanc instead of her Chat, but she could feel the sideway glances he was giving her, studying her features and her face, counting the freckles on her nose and cheeks as long as she didn't say anything to stop him.

"Who are you thinking about?" He asked out of the blue, after minutes of silence. A breeze hit the two heroes of Paris and Marinette could smell Chat's odeur that was drifted from the wind to her nose. She felt a lump form in her throat.

"What do you mean?" she asked nervously, trying to sound as casual as possible. He scooted a little closer to her. She didn't inch away, too stubborn to show weakness. Because she could handle him. Right?

"The day is for friends." he explained sheepishly, throwing a sideway glance at her. "The night for lovers. Who's got my Lady's mind occupied? I hope no real rival for the great Chat Noir, that could possibly conquer my Lady's heart?"

An annoyed sigh escaped her lips and only then did she noticed, had she held onto her breath for the time mattered. Her eyes instinctively opened and she couldn't resist the urge to look into his eyes. And for the first time of that night, their gaze finally met.

There he was, big green eyes locked on hers, a genuine smile plastered on his face, his golden locks messed up because of the chilly breezes of the night.

Her Chat Noir was sitting right next to her, watching her with admiration and trust only he could hold for her this way.

His smile widened and his eyes glowed even brighter now, that her blue eyes had finally opened up to him, permitting him to immerge himself in these deep orbs of hers.

"Hello, my Lady." he repeated his greetings, as if seeing her for the first time, which was true since he didn't get to look her in the eye until a moment ago. His voice was deep and soft and his eyes were loving and caring as always, showing the greatest affection for her. She looked at him for a moment and suddenly, for the first time of today, she felt a warm smile tug at her lips that instantly went to warm up his chest and fasten his beating heart.

How could she ever have thought that her Chat, her silly kitty, could ever become evil? That he could ever turn into the Chat Blanc in her dreams?

"Hello, kitty." she whispered, her eyes radiant of joy and relief. With a fingertip she hit the golden bell tied around his neck and a crystal clear sound filled their ears. Another breeze hit their bodies, but neither shivered nor moved an inch.

"So? Who were you thinking about?" he indulged once more, after a brief moment of silence had followed. She looked at him, rather indecisive if she should tell him about her fear and nightmare or not. But having him so close and near had made her feel immensely strong and safe. Besides, she didn't wanted to build up his ego, admitting to him that she had dreamt about him (even if that wasn't _entirely_ true...)

"I wasn't thinking about someone in particular, really." She assured, her eyes wondering back to the Eiffel tower and the city lights. "I was just taking in the view."

"A beautiful view indeed, I must agree to that." He said, his eyes lingering on her. All of a sudden her closeness to him disappeared and she couldn't help but roll her eyes and slap her palm against her forehead at his predictable flirts.

"I should have seen that one coming." She growled under her breath. Chat only snickered, amused by his Lady's reaction.

The two remained silent once more, each of them absorbed in their own thoughts as Chat suddenly saw Marinette shiver.

"Are you cold?" He wondered, eyeing his black spotted companion worriedly. Indeed it has to be said, though mostly their spandex suits were very useful during combat, on the other hand they didn't keep too much warm. Especially in winter nights...

"No, no I'm f-fi-fiiiii-hatshi!" The sweetest sneeze of all escaped her lips and Chat couldn't help himself but smile at her, thinking how cute she was even when snot was drooling from her nose.

"Still feline fine?" He asked her with a wide grin after she regained her composure. He only obtained a grunt from her side.

"You are just awful, Chat."

"I know, I'm a catastrophe."

A desperate laugh came from her side. "No kitten."

He froze instantly and looked at her in astonishment.

"Did you... Did you just make a cat pun...?" He asked, his voice but a whisper, his clawed index finger pointing in disbelief at her.

"Don't get used to it. I just pitied you, that's all."

He crossed his arms and frowned playfully at her. " How rude."

Another sneeze of his Lady made him remember how their conversation had started in the first place. He looked over at her and saw her retrieving her legs to her chest, wrapping her arms around her knees in comfort, probably trying to keep herself warm.

What happened next wasn't planed in any way, nor was it meant to appear as an attempt to flirt with Marinette. Seeing his Lady suffering in the cold, he didn't think twice as his body inched closer to hers and hugged her body tightly to his in order to warm her up.

Marinette gasped when she got pulled towards Chat's chest, her back pressed tightly against his chest, his arms resting around her waist. Immediately she felt her heart beat quicken and the warmth with which her partner was providing her with.

With a flushed face that she believed redder than her costume, she finally found her voice.

"Ch-Chat? What do you think you're doing right now?"

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm keeping you purrrrfectly warm. That's all."

She did hear the amusement in Chat's voice and feel his happiness as she let him keep her in his arms to warm her up a little. She did roll her eyes slightly at his horrible pun, but did not comment it in any other way, letting him have his fun for once (unfortunately it wasn't the only pun he made that evening).

She just sat there on a random rooftop with Chat right next to her, who was holding her tight, flavoring the unusual feeling of having her so close. She didn't budge, nor did she scoot away or shoo him off. In fact, she liked being in his strong arms that made her feel safe and sound (though she would never admit that to him, of course).

There he was, holding her tight. 100% Chat Noir.

And nothing of him reminded her of Chat Blanc, the villain of her nightmare.

As if it all has been nothing but a dream.

She relaxed and granted him this favor, happy to know that Chat would always be by her side, no matter what.

They stayed this way until the lights of the city of love died down and the first sunrays escaped the horizon, announcing the start of a new day.

* * *

She was jumping gracefully from one rooftop to the other, like a dauphin that leaps out of the water, dragging a rainbow trail of saltwater drops behind its tail that drizzle back down to the surface of the sea like rain. Her shaky breaths turned into foggy clouds once they came in contact with the cold evening air and each time her hand brushed against her face to remove a hair strand from her view, she could feel the cold skin of her cheeks or her frozen nose that most likely must have turned red by now.

She wasn't a very sportive person, her body wasn't used to so much running and moving, but her new achieved powers had made her more resistant and especially stronger. In fact, though she knew she was cold, she didn't feel the cold inside of her. As if her powers somehow managed to block any kind of obstacle from her body and mind that could prevent her from accomplishing her mission.

" _I am the Papillion and you are from now on Raie du Sommeil. I give you extraordinary powers in exchange of a little favor I need you to do for me. Bring me the miraculous of Chat Noir and Ladybug and you will be able to take revenge on whatever little poor soul that hasn't taken you serious. What do you say, Raie du Sommeil?"_

It hadn't been difficult to convince her to accept the Papillion's offer and immediately after having agreed to the terms of the deal, she had found herself transformed into a strange vampireish like creature that reigned over the unsuspecting sleeping citizens of Paris by night without their sheer knowledge.

 _"In order to use your powers, you need to be well rested and energized. Your powers take a lot out of you. The constant dream chasing can become wearing soon enough. But it ain't you to choose which dreams to see and which ones not; every single dream of a nearby sleeping human will appear in your mind and show you its content_."

She jumped once more from a rooftop and landed with both feet on another. Rising from her landing posture, there she stood upright on both of her feet, overcasting the city of love, searching for her wanted victims. Her mind was full of visions and images, dreams of every single person sleeping in her near presence. It was difficult for her to concentrate among all these dreams she was seeing in her head mostly simultaneously, but as hard as she concentrated herself, as much as she searched, she did not find any clue of a dream that could possibly lead her nor to Ladybug nor to Chat Noir.

This was her first true night as a super villain, as _Raie su Sommeil_. The night before she had received her powers, enjoying herself while bringing nightmares to the people of Paris. Over the day she had only slept, just as Papillion had told her to do, in order to be well rested for the night. And then, after hours and hours of waiting in excitement, had finally come the moment in which she could effectively use her prodigious powers and make people pay for their sins.

But first she had to keep her promise to Papillion, her generous donator.

"Where are you?" She hissed to herself, scanning once more her mind filled with pictures of dreams for any sign of Ladybug and Chat Noir, but no matter how long she searched, there was no such significant dream to be seen, as the one from the night before, the glimps she had caught while hurrying home to bed.

 _I should have chased after that glimps_! she told herself fuming because of her lost chance. But it had been too much for her to handle then and so many visions had suddenly over floated her mind that she had barely even made it straight back home. She could have never purchased to the end that glimps of a dream. Or has it been a nightmare...?

No matter where she looked for the two heroes of Paris, that night not a single glimps had brought her any closer to the two miraculous she was vainly searching for. Instead she had managed to evoke more nightmares than wanted.

The echoing of the bells of Notre Dame made her freeze where she was and counting the strikes of the clock and looking up for the first time in the lightening sky, Raie du Sommeil could tell, her reign was soon to be over. She had one hour left to spare and it was clear to her, she wouldn't be able to find Chat Noir and Ladybug. Not this night at least.

 _"Au clair de la lune, on n'y voit qu'un peu._

 _On chercha le Chat Noir et aussi ceux camaieu._

 _En cherchant la coccinelle je n'sais c'qu'on trouva._

 _Mais je sais qu'la fin sur eux se fermera."_

Chanting this little lullaby she had come up with during the night, frustrated she decided to move on, sensing that her presence had already aroused more nightmares among the people nearby. Another disadvantage of her powers: she could never stand still or she would evoke nightmare after nightmare, gaining more and more attention to herself.

She puffed her cheeks and searched her surroundings for any idea what to do next.

 _Well_ she thought as her dark blue eyes suddenly brightened up with a sinister light _I could get a head start on my revenge now, can't I?_

With a mischievous grin she made her way, jumping once more like a dauphin in the air.


	3. Chapter 3: Dreamchaser

**Chapter Two: Dreamchaser**

Five minutes. That was all the sleep she had got after re-entering her home the next morning, shortly after sunrise. She had jumped through the trap door straight into bed, retransforming during the process and landing on her pink sheets while still wearing her usual attire, including her shoes. But she didn't care if her bed would get dirty this way. She didn't mind having to change the bed linen, as long as she could get at least a little sleep before heading to school.

A little sleep of exactly five minutes. Then her alarm clock had started to buzz, waking her harshly out of her realm of dreaminess she has so quickly fallen into. rather than on sugary cotton clouds, she found herself once more on the floor of her room with Tikki hovering over her, eyeing her Ladybug worriedly.

"Oh, Marinette! Are you hurt?"

Marinette annoyed puffed to get rid of hair strands that have fallen into her eyes.

"Not more than usually." she said and stood up feeling the fatigue in her limbs. "Remind me, Tikki, to never do something like this ever again. Please. This will be the end of me."

Tikki giggled softly. "The next time I will simply retransform you in front of Chat Noir when I think it's high time you got to bed, how does that sound?"

"Sounds like a plan." answered Marinette and yawned at the end making it clear that she was definitely too tired to even understand what Tikki was telling her. Fortunately Tikki wasn't anything like Plagg, who would have taken that response serious; the little kwami just giggled and shook amused her tiny head and flew over to Marinette, who entered the bathroom in order to get a change of clothing. Exiting shortly after, Marinette stopped in front of her mirror, taking a moment to look at her pale and tired face, tracing with the tip of her finger the dark eye bags that underlined her blue orbs. Immediately her mind went back to the previous night she had unlikely to her usual self, spent with Chat in pure delight and pleasure, enjoying for once his vicinity to her, his body heat enclosing her, her body trapped in his strong arms that protectively held her close to him...an incredulous smile made its way on her lips while all those racing thoughts rushed through her mind, making her blush as the thought, the vision of the two, sitting together silently, embraced like star-crossed lovers, below a diamond graced night sky which competed with the warm flickering lights of the city of love, until they died down with the dawn.

"I can't believe I seriously spent the entire night with Chat, just sitting around lazily and viewing in total silence the beauty of the city tugged under a star covered night sky blanket..." Marinette embarrassedly lowered her head to hide the blush that continued to spread over her face from the sight of Tikki, but nothing had gone by unnoticed by the kwami's eyes which eyed the black haired girl with joyous and a cheeky smile.

"You enjoyed it, Marinette. Don't even try to deny it to me." She flew over to Marinette's face and looked at her reflection in the mirror. "I can see right through you." She winked at her and her smile grew wider. Marinette rolled her eyes in a playful manner and shook her head in disbelief.

"It was careless of me and a waist of time." She stated, laughing Tikki's mark off as if it was nothing. "I mean, look at me! I'm a mess! I can barely stand on my feet that's how sleepy I am." To demonstrate her reasoning, Marinette stood up and walked around in circles, one leg following lazy the other. "How am I supposed to fight a villain in case the city happens to be attacked by one?"

Tikki skeptically raised an eyebrow. "I don't see any difference in your usual odd behavior." she giggled. Marinette puffed playfully, making some strands of hair rise in the air. A hint of a smile graced her lips.

"I was just happy to see him being himself, after that horrid nightmare I had the other night." she explained. "I guess I really have been afraid to see him all changed all of a sudden. I really did believe him to have turned into ... Chat Blanc." ashamed of her stated fear and lack of trust her eyes glanced sideways. A content smile lingered on her rosy lips she couldn't hold onto. "So I... I savored this moment of relief and sheer happiness I felt seeing him being my silly kitty I'm used to."

"I feel this is going to become a habit from now on..." Tikki implied, giggling softly. Marinette rolled her eyes, but the smile on her lips didn't fade. She held her purse open for Tikki to fly into it.

"Come on, Tikki. I still need to get a coffee to make it through the day, or else I'll fall asleep in class. With my luck possibly even right in front of Adrien, probably drooling on his handmade shoes." She laughed and hasted down stairs.

Marinette found the kitchen and living room completely empty when she walked down the stairs.

" _Maman_? _Papa_?" she called for her parents, but didn't receive any answer in return. Curiously she walked over to the kitchen where usually her mother would be standing with a well prepared breakfast waiting for her.

This morning nobody greeted her friendly or invited her to join the room, if not the pure blackness of the dark. She made her way over the curtains and pulled them aside, letting the morning light in and brighten the room.

She turned around and smiled, seeing the familiar view that usually greeted her each morning, but the worried lines still didn't leave her face. One detail was still missing.

"Where is everybody?" she mumbled to herself.

"Marinette?"

Startled, the called girl turned towards the direction of the heard voice and approached the door that lead downstairs to the bakery.

"Marinette, are you awake?"

Sparks of relief lit up her eyes as she ran downstairs.

" _Bonjour papa_!" she greeted her father, giving him a peck on his cheek. She noticed the full loaded plates of bakeries her father had already prepared. A sweet scent of vanilla and cinnamon was hovering in the air, making her nostrils quiver in delight. She took a chocolate croissant in her hands and nibbled on it.

"Good morning, sweetheart." Her father greeted her back, not stopping from his task: filling the counter with his freshly made creations. "You're up early today." He noticed.

"You too." she answered, indicating all the sweets he had already baked so far. "You must have been working for hours to have already made so many of these."

"Your mother and I barely slept last night." explained her father, not looking at her. "We both were hunted by terrible nightmares that have kept us up the entire night. At one point I decided to give up on sleeping and go ahead with work. Your mother is still in bed, trying to recover some of her lost sleep."

She stopped nibbling at her sweet. " _Papa_." was the only word Marinette was able to get out of her mouth. She immediately hugged her father, trying to comfort him.

"I'm sorry to hear that, papa. I hope you and maman are okay." Tom Dupain smiled at his daughter and caressed lovingly her cheek.

"It were just bad dreams, Mari, nothing to worry at." He looked at the clock and he laughed heartedly. "But enough about dreams, I think you must get going or you'll once more be late!" Marinette followed his gaze and gasped when seeing what time it was.

"I'm on my way!" She said hurriedly while running out of the bakery store. "Love you!" Tom laughed heartily while he watched her hurry to school.

"Always the same." He chuckled and proceeded his ongoing work.

* * *

He. Was. Unbearable.

That was Plagg's only thought when he was released from his transformation. From that moment on he was forced to stay in the company of a blonde, lovesick fool whose silly grin made the little kwami's limbs itch to punch it out of his face.

"You look like a fool, do you know that?" It was Plagg's first comment after a long period of silence, in which the little black kwami had attentively observed Adrien that had fallen directly on his couch right after re-entering his room from his night out, a stupid smile plastered on his lips while he dreamily looked at the ceiling. Every now and then a sigh would escape his lips and his goofy grin would widen, making Plagg roll his eyes even more.

It hasn't been long since they have made their way back home from their unusually long late night trip. Plagg, who had been awake the whole night, forced to keep up Adrien's transformation, had been eager to go straight to bed as soon as he was freed. But just as he had been about to float peacefully on a pillow on Adrien's bed, he had noticed his young love-struck fellow's facial expression. And it was pure torture for him.

He didn't receive any answer from the blonde, if not another sigh. Plagg puffed annoyed in response.

"Love." He spit the word out of his mouth, as if it was venom. "Every single time the same procedure. Every single time the same issue. Why do I always get the romantic fools?" He turned towards Adrien. "Adrien, I want cheese. Now." Adrien didn't even seem to be listening.

"Great. Now he's deaf too." Plagg, who had been lying on the headrest of the couch, now rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Lord, please tell me, what did I do wrong in my life to deserve this and so less cheese? I've always been a good kwami. Why this punishment?" He turned once more to the blonde and eyed him carefully.

"Maybe if I talk like Ladybug will he give me more cheese?" he wondered and was about to try his theory when suddenly he got interrupted.

"Adrien? Adrien, are you awake? " Nathalie's voice echoed through the house. Plagg's cat ears twitched as he sensed the footsteps of the woman coming closer and closer. "Adrien, it's time for you to go to school!"

"World to Adrien. World to Adrien!" The kwami floated right next to blonde's face, trying to somehow get the love-struck boy out of his trance he was held captive in. Though he wasn't sleeping, somehow his mind wasn't present either, lost on cloud seven, alongside a dream version of Ladybug probably.

"And today at Dr. Plagg's sanatorium: How to wake up a love-struck fool that has nothing on his poor mind but making out with Ladybug, who isn't interested in him. For this experiment I have with us today a certain full time model and coincidentally also part time superhero Chat Noir, Adrien Agreste! Mister Agreste, can you tell us what's it like to be involved into a love tria... two-angle of which there is no apparent way out of? And especially when will you accept the fact that Ladybug is just not that into you? No? Too busy making out with Ladybug in you dream? That's very unfortunate."

He heard Nathalie's steps come closer and once more Plagg's eyes darted across the room, towards the still closed door, fearing Nathalie's entering any second now.

The little kwami floated down and grabbed Adrien by his collar.

"Mayday, mayday! Alert the captain! The vessel is going down. I repeat: the vessel is going doooooown!" Plagg was shaking desperately Adrien's collar, in order to snap this fool out of his dreams.

"Adrien! I'm coming!" Any moment now, and Nathalie would come in, finding a complete dumbstruck Adrien lying on the couch, a look plastered on his face that could possibly make anyone think the blonde must be on drugs.

"Ladybug..." was the only response he got.

Plagg was nibbling on his nails, terrified of what could happen.

"What shall I do? What shall I do? Why do these things always happen to me?" He turned and turned in circles, searching for anything that could help him bring back his master's mind. His cat green eyes landed on a very very old and perfuming slice of camembert that was lying on the floor, probably forgotten by him due to the need of Adrien to transform into Chat Noir. A light bulb flickered in Palgg's tiny head.

"That'll do."

The doorknob moved and Plagg wasted no more time and raced to the stinky camembert, picking it up from the ground and trying hard not to give in to the urge to swallow this delicious piece of cheese. First he needed to save his buddy. Though he didn't deserve it.

"You owe me a big peace of camembert, Adrien." He mumbled while tossing the rotten camembert in Adrien's face, right under his nose and rushing like a black lightning into the blonde's shirt pocket. Just as his black tail disappeared under the white shirt, Nathalie entered the room and found herself in front of a moaning Adrien who was pinching his nose and holding a piece of cheese away from him.

"Adrien! What are you doing? It's high time you got ready for school! The limousine is waiting for you already! And what are you doing with this old cheese?" She didn't even wait for him to answer any of her questions. Instead she dragged Adrien with her, heading out of his room and harshly closing the door behind his back. This unusual behavior of his father's secretary startled him.

"Nathalie, I..." He didn't even get the chance to pronounce the rest of the sentence because Nathalie had started walking again, dragging Adrien right behind her with a firm grip around his wrist, yanking him down the stairs.

"There is no time to spare, Adrien. We are already late."

"But Nathalie...!" She stopped in the middle of the entrance hall and shot him an irritated look while the grip around his wrist tightened.

"WHAT, ADRIEN?!" Both of their eyes widened in shock as Nathalie's raised voice echoed through the house. They stood completely still, neither daring to move first.

"You didn't let me get my bag." He explained, unsure of how the woman in front of him would react.

It was Nathalie that regained her composure, blinking several times before removing her horrified eyes from Adrien's. She immediately let go of Adrien without hesitation and deep wrinkles marked her face while a distressed sigh escaped her lips. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

"I beg your pardon, Adrien. I did not mean to harm you in any way." She started, eyeing him intensely. For the first time that day, Adrien got the chance to look into Nathalie's face and see the deep eye bags she had tried to cover with makeup. Her blue orbs were watery and weary and only then did he noticed, that she looked paler than usually.

"Is something wrong, Nathalie?"

Surprise flickered in her eyes as she looked at Adrien funnily, not having expected him to inquire her health. The faintest hint of a smile crossed her lips.

"No, Adrien. Everything is fine." She stated warmly "I just had a rough time sleeping, last night, that's all."

At least you slept he thought and once more a foolish grin appeared on Adrien's face as memories of last night with Ladybug arouse in his mind, but he was faster this time to hide his smile as soon as he noticed Nathalie eyeing him curiously.

"What troubled you?" He asked in order to distract her from his foolish being. Plagg, who had witnessed the whole seen and had had to hold on to not let him escape a loud groan when he had noticed Adrien spacing out once more, rolled his eyes at the blonde.

Nathalie arched an eyebrow and for a second was hesitant to answer the young boy.

"...Nothing." she eventually whispered, looking down to the floor, avoiding Adrien's curious orbs. "Adrien, you should really go now, before you get late. You know your father gives a lot on punctuality. Remember to come home in time for the first part of your photo shooting this afternoon. Tomorrow follows part two of the session, _d'accord_? Now go and have a nice day, Adrien." With those words, Nathalie turned on her heels and left for her office, leaving a wordless Adrien alone in the great hall of the house.

" _La limousine, monsieur_." It was one of the cleaning ladies that had opened up the door for him to walk outside. He thanked the woman and walked out towards the gate where his father's limousine was waiting for him already. The chauffeur was standing outside, waiting for Adrien to come and to open the doors for the famous model. Just getting a little closer, Adrien could tell though that today something was different in his chauffeur's usual attitude. In fact, he could tell, his chauffeur was indeed standing on his feet, his head hanging limply forwards, his hat dropped loosely over his forehead, hiding the man's eyes. He was standing perfectly still, resembling more a statue than really a living human.

" _Monsieur_..." Asked Adrien carefully, raising a hand to tap on the chauffeur's shoulder. But before the tip of his finger even reached the man's arm, a loud snore roared in Adrien's ears, startling him that much that he jumped a few feet backwards.

Suddenly Plagg's head popped out of his hiding place and his green eyes first eyed the sleeping chauffeur, then looked up at Adrien with no different expression.

"If I were you, I'd be walking." He commented merely, disappearing once more in the inside pocket of Adrien's shirt. And for once, Adrien couldn't argue there with him.

* * *

Their day didn't proceed any differently than how it had started. Wherever they went to, they were surrounded by distressed and exhausted people whose eyes were underlined by dark eye bags and who couldn't get a proper sentence out of their mouth without yawing at each other faces.

Not a single person in class looked well rested and awake. Even their teacher seemed less concentrated than usual. When Adrien asked Nino why he was so sleepy, he told him that he couldn't get to sleep the entire night and had therefore listened to music until his alarm clock had ringed.

The usually hyper energetic Alya also appeared to be rather distressed and in a bad mood. She too had been up all night because her siblings strangely had had all nightmares and she had had to help her parents calm them down.

"It was hell." she replied when Nino had asked her what had happened to her. Alya was resting her head on her crossed arms on her desk, not facing the two boys that had turned around to talk to the brunette. "I must have read to them every single fairytale that was ever written, and it didn't help a thing. Actually, it just seemed to make things worse as when they tried to go back to sleep, they were all having nightmares about these tales."

While Nino tried to comfort his girlfriend, Adrien's gaze overcast his classmates. Just as Alya and Nino, everyone else seemed to be deprived of their sleep as well. Alix was sitting at her seat, her elbow propped up on her desk and her head resting in her hand, while her opened mouth showed the gum she was chewing on before falling asleep in this position. Kim didn't look any different from her. His hair was a mess and he wore his red jumper backwards. Max, who was sitting right next to him, didn't seem to notice his best friend's unusual attire. He just kept on whipping his glasses with the hem of his vest while he continued staring with a lost gaze at the blank blackboard. Rose was sleeping, her head resting on the other half of Juleka's desk and who laid on top of the sleeping beauty.

The worst of all though was doubtlessly Chloé who had become over the night a complete new person. The blonde that usually did nothing but bossying around her classmates and trick them in order to achieve what she wants, now was a twitching mess, not able to keep a pen in her trembling hands. Her blue eyes that only the other day had been icy and cold, now had turned to dark orbs, haunted by shadows, that heretically darted from one side of the room to the other, as if fearing the presence of something or someone she expected to assault her from behind her back. Her golden hair were uncombed and let loose and her makeup was blurred. When he had asked her what had happened, she had looked at him in fear as if unsure on telling him the truth or rather not telling him anything at all. "Bad dreams." she whispered at last, pressing her head against his chest, her eyes tightly shut. She didn't hug him in a seductive manner. Anxiously and scared she held herself against him, like a little girl who was just searching for comfort after having seen a ghost.

Nightmares had haunted the dreams of their classmates and friends this night, and not only their dreams, but rather every single dream of entire Paris.

At last his gaze fell on shy and sweet Marinette who he hadn't seen coming in the classroom. Strangely, she was carefully studying the others just as he had, eyeing every single one of their classmates suspiciously. He allowed himself to take a closer look at his timid classmate that hadn't noticed him starring yet. Just as all the others, she too had eye bags under her bright blue eyes that were filled with worry for her fatigued friends, but her exhaustion wasn't comparable to the others who seemed to be also rather anxious and frightened than just tired, just like Nathanael whom he had watched several times doze off and right away open back his eyes, as if scared of something he had seen behind his dark eyelids. Marinette was just tired and nothing more. No trembling hands, no quirky eyes, no jumpiness. She appeared to be just a tired teenager like himself.

"Did you get some sleep this night?" Asked him Nino, whose heavy eyelids were about to close on his eyes. He shook his head, feeling a welcoming warmth spreading in his chest at the memory of him and Ladybug having spent the night together.

"Nope." He replied sincerely. "But I'm not tired. Not a bit."

"At least someone seems to be wide awake!" Commented Alya harshly, her head still laid flatly on her desk, face turned towards Marinette to whom she wasn't even talking to. "Had a good dream? 'Cause I hadn't. I had no dreams. I didn't even get to sleep! All I did was...

"Hold it, Alya." Groaned Nino, massaging his temples. "He knows. We all know. Now give it a rest and use these precious minutes before class starts to relax and calm down. I'll even buy your favorite cappuccino if that lightens up your mood."

"You're starting to know me better and better, Nino." she mumbled, drained from all her energy, her eyes half closed and her glasses nearly falling from her nose. Adrien watched speechlessly his friends drifting into a peaceful nap, his mouth remained open, incredulous.

"What just happened?" He asked no one in particular, a little overwhelmed by the situation. His green eyes focused on Marinette, the only person close enough to have heard his question, but the said girl didn't seem to have noticed his confusion nor did she appear to take further knowledge of him. Instead, her wondrous eyes carefully studied her friend's face, as if searching for something, a trace, a clue, anything that could show her the answer to all these nightmares.

Once more he found himself staring at the shy girl that would always sit behind him in class and that was not able to get a proper sentence out of her mouth when speaking to him (Which he had come to find very adorable of her, even making him smile). Her serious face, her withdrawn eyebrows, the worry lines on her forehead and the carefully scrutinizing look was so unusual for her, for a moment he believed to have Ladybug in front of him instead of shy little Marinette.

Suddenly the said girl blinked and her head turned towards Adrien who was still looking at her curiously. Immediately he felt as if he had been caught by doing something bad and he felt his face turn red of embarrassment.

"Ehm..." she stammered not knowing what to say, a cherry red blush covering her nose and cheeks. His eyes widened in fear of having scared her to death and he frantically searched in his head for an excuse for why he had been staring at her.

"I, well..."

"ehm..."

He searched her face for something he could use as an explanation, but looking closely at her, there was nothing he could possibly use as an excuse, until he saw them.

An incredulous smile tugged his lips as his eyes for no reason started lightning up

"I was counting your freckles." He finally stated, his gaze lingering on her nose and cheeks that were still reddened of the blush which got only deeper when she heard him say these words.

"M-my my freckles?" she asked abashed of this wondrous remark, her hand pressed against her chest, slightly trembling agitation.

"Yeah."

He somehow found himself pulled towards her by an invisible force he couldn't resist against. He felt his heart beat fasten slightly noticing how close he was to her. But rather than feeling embarrassed or ashamed, a very Chat like confidence spread out in his chest, making him feel as if he wasn't Adrien in this precise moment after all, but the black masked hero of Paris, in attempt to flirt playfully with his Princess. As if two realities had suddenly overlap, as if his two lives had become one for one fateful moment. He leaned closer to her, feeling the faintest touch of her soft breath caressing his nose.

"I never noticed before you had freckles." He said and on his lips appeared a very familiar smile. A smile she had often seen on another blonde's face and that she would never have imagined to see on Adrien. As if he had heard her thoughts, his eyes rose and met hers who were shot wide open, shocked to see him so close to her face. But just as she was staring into his beautiful shining green eyes, just as she was about to inch back, her mind tricked her and for a moment, there it was once again: Chat Noir's face instead of Adrien's that was looking up at her, telling her he had been counting her freckles as if they had been stars. The same playful glare, the same smirk... She could feel her heart skip a beat while suddenly memories off the previous night invaded her mind. And just as Adrien, Marinette too found herself trapped in between two worlds contemporarily.

The same confidence she possessed as Ladybug suddenly took control of her actions and a secure smile appeared on her lips and for the first time in a very long time, and without a mask to cover her true being, she opened her mouth and instincively spoke without hesitation to the blonde right in front of her.

"You know what they say," she said nonchalantly as if she was indeed talking to Chat Noir and not Adrien, stumbling not even once over her words. "Sometimes the most obvious things on earth are the ones right under your nose."

The teacher entered and Marinette's powerful gaze wandered to the teacher while a sly smirk graced her full lips. The slamming of the door woke up Alya and Nino who hadn't witnessed any of the conversation that had been going on between the blonde and the raven haired.

Slowly everybody got ready to commence the lesson, yawning while taking out of their bags books and pencil case. Marinette too got prepared herself while Adrien was still turned towards her, gazing at the girl that miraculously had been able to talk to him in proper sentences after what seemed to be an entire lifetime.

A blush crept on Marinette's face as she noticed his wide open eyes still lingering on her and she was more than relieved when the teacher called out for Adrien to turn around and pay attention to the lesson.

Adrien slumed back on his seat, speechless. 

And while Marinette realized in the meantime what she had said and done to her crush, turning beed red in the middle of the lesson, hiding her face in the hook of her elbow, Adrien couldn't help but smile. A wide toothed grin appeared on his lips as he realized, Marinette was not what she pretended to be, or at least what he thought her to be. Today he had finally gotten the chance to meet another side of Marinete, one he had never expected to find in her. Something very... _ladybug-like_ even. And while timid Adrien chewed on his pencil, trying to pay attention to class, the _Chat_ inside of him itched to find out more about thisnew persona discovered in the lady sitting behind him in class.

* * *

That same night, after only an hour of sleep, Marinette was once more in form of Ladybug, jumping hastily across the skyline of Paris, in search of her Chat Noir in order to discuss a very important subject she had been confronted with the entire day: the nightmares that harassed Paris.

But as so often, it wasn't her to find Chat, but the cat to find his Lady.

"Searching for someone specific?" She turned to face him, the black knight of Paris, and watched as he gracefully approached her with the same elegant movements of a cat.

"For you, indeed." She admitted.

Chat's smile widened and he finally stopped a mere inches away from his Lady.

"I knew the day would come on whom you'd accept the fact that you feel attracted to me and want to spent every single second of your life next to this handsome Chat." He joked, his completely green eyes shining brightly in the moonlight, sparkling like stars. Ladybug didn't even care to roll her eyes at his usual flirt attempting, but she remained unusual serious even for her normal attitude.

"Stop it, Chat." She ordered severely, not reprovingly. "I mean to talk to you about a very serious matter. We don't have time for your silliness." She turned away from him and walked to the edge of the rooftop they were standing on, her arms crossed in front of her chest, her gaze wandering over the lit up city of love she had promised she would protect from all sort of harm. He could only see the back, but he didn't need great fantasy to picture himself in his mind the look on his Lady's face while she scanned the surroundings for any crime or unusual events.

"Haven't you noticed?" She suddenly asked out of the blue, her back still facing him. He raised an eyebrow, apparently not following his Lady's thoughts. He slowly approached the black haired girl he so much admired, his soft footsteps were faintly heard in the nocturne silence, as if he indeed was walking on silk pawns that gracefully caressed the rooftop of the house they were standing on.

"Noticed what, my Lady?" He asked wondrous. He didn't expect he to turn and face him in a rather harshly manner. But just by looking into her skeptical eyes, he knew he had said something wrong. He indulged his mind in search for whatever his Lady might have referred to, and indeed, before Marinette could open her mouth to voice her complaining about him, he thought about his day and the curious events that had taken place at home and at school. Then it occurred to him what the black spotted heroine could have meant.

"You mean the nightmares?" He asked unsure, not having given too much importance to them. Her orbs lightened a little, but the worry remained in her eyes.

"Yes, the nightmares." She repeated, walking towards him. "The nightmares that have started to haunt the dreams of the citizens of Paris starting last night." Her last two words revived his memories of the night before, which he had spent entirely with Ladybug. He had to struggle with himself to contain his enthusiasm and delight he felt spreading in his chest while remembering her body pressed against his and her will to remain in that position without retreating from his closeness as she usually would.

"They haven't haunted my dreams yet, my Lady." he replied flirtatiously grinning one of his famous full toothed grins. "How could they, with you by my side." He attempted to take her hand in his and give her a kiss, but as always, she was too fast for him and already pushed him with a fingertip pressed against his pointy nose away from her.

"Focus, Chat." she reminded him severely. "This is important! I believe this is the work of one of Papillion akumas again. We should probably overcast the city and search for anything suspicious. This akuma is acting secretively, just like Sabrina was as the Vanisher. We can't wait for it to attack people in public, since that won't happen."

"Calm down, Ladybug!" He interrupted her planning, raising his clawed hands in the air for telling her to slow down in her train of thoughts. "There is no need for over eagerness. In fact, we're talking about nightmares here. I mean, nightmares! Nightmares are no real harm for the city, they are just bad dreams, that's it! And just because today there were a lot of people that haven't slept well, that doesn't mean that anything evil is lingering in their dreams while they sleep. There could be a very plausible explanation for all this. Maybe the Papillion has nothing to do with this!"

"When wasn't he involved with these strange occurrences that seem to haunt down this city every now and then?" She replied irritated, pushing his arms down with her slender hands. "Whenever only the slightest strangeness occurs in this city, it usually is the Papillion that is behind it all, Chat, I believe these nightmares we are talking about aren't just any harmless bad dreams that come and go every once in a while! Have you not seen what they do to people? Have you not noticed the horror that they spread over the entire city? I'm sure the Papillion is behind all this! We need to do something, Chat, before it's too late!"

"I just don't see the logic in his plan! How does he want to harm us by not fighting us physically? How is he supposed to get to our miraculous by spreading nightmares over Paris?" The two heroes had been so concentrated on their argument, only now did they notice how close they were to one another. His cat green eyes were intensively watching her, digging deep inside her soul, trying to understand her reasoning.

In fact, due to all the nightmare victims she had talked to during the day and the tension these bad dreams had brought to the surface of Paris, she was more and more reminded of her own nightmare she had thought forgotten. Having him so close, so near, so real right in front of her, made her remember a very similar person she feared, though she knew wasn't real.

She remained silent for very long time. Her big blue eyes now were nothing but two small slots that eyed him determinately. He just stared back at her, curiously following with his gaze the shadows that had suddenly appeared in her orbs.

"What would you do if all of a sudden you'd become evil?" She asked Chat Noir out of the blue and taking the blonde quite aback with the sudden harshness in her usual soft voice, just as Adrien that same day had aflutter her, telling her about her freckles, making her cheeks redden in delight. "What would you do if it were you to become a victim of an akuma?"

Startled by her sudden change of subject, the blonde hero frowned and gave her a strange look.

"What does this now have anything to do with the nightmares you were just talking about?" He asked bewildered, completely taken back. But as he looked closely into her beautiful eyes that were shining like the moon above their heads, something dawned on him.

"You have nightmares as well, don't you?" He said, his voice nothing but a whisper, a breath that left his tightened lips. He watched her painful gaze fall to the ground, nearly ashamed of this weakness he had found in her persona. Her eyes well hidden behind her dark haired bangs, making it for him impossible to see her teary orbs.

"Yes." she admitted finally, still not raising her head. Her usually tender hands were clenched into shaking fists and if they hadn't been covered with her fiery red suit, he would have seen her knuckles turn white.

A saddened look sculptured itself on his face and he suddenly felt his heartbeat echo inside his head, matching the rhythm of a melancholic melody that aggrieved his mind.

His fingertips were itching to touch her, take her fists in his clawed hands and smoothen them, turn them back to their tenderness. Just as out of impulse one of his hands was about to touch her arm, she started talking again. " I did had nightmares. And the nightmares I had didn't let me rest for the entire night." His hand had remained frozen in midair, not daring anymore to come too close to his Lady that most likely would have rejected his attempt to comfort her. Suddenly her head rose and once more she was looking him straight into the eyes, her gaze fiery and unfaltering, determination spread across her pretty face. He just remained petrified in his pose, as if turned into stone by the pain he had felt, seeing his precious dear Lady suffering.

"Trust me when I tell you, it's no fun living these nightmares that are torturing the dreams of the citizens of Paris. And if you had any idea what it means to go through one of them, you'd be just as determined to get them out of the world as I am. Because I know, these nightmares are far from the bad dreams we're used to. So, Chat, are you in with me against the evil or do you want to keep on living in a dream?" She didn't even wait for him to give her any answer, sure that her faithful partner would follow her to wit's end if necessary. Just as she was about to run off and launch herself over the rooftop, Chat finally regained control of his body and before she could escape from him, his claw that had remained petrified in midair for the whole duration of her speech, took advantage of her eagerness.

Suddenly the Lady in red felt herself dragged backwards instead of marching ahead. Confusion signed her face once she felt the firm grip of Chat's hand around her small wrist, holding her back from her attempt.

She skeptically tuned her eyes towards his black figure, her gaze wandering from Chat's hand around her wrist to his face. And his bright green eyes that were locked on her and filled with grief and sadness, shining bright in the moonlight.

"Chat, what are you..." She whispered her question, taken quite aback by Chats appearance, but she didn't get the chance to finish her sentence for she felt her arm be tugged towards who was holding onto her as if his life depended on it.

Her legs stumbled forwards and before she could understand what had happened, she found herself once again in the strong and safe arms of Chat who was pressing her against his body, not wanting to let her go for anything on the entire planet.

Her ear was pressed against his chest and she could feel his heartbeat against her face palm that was laid flat against him

"My Lady," she heard his voice vibrate against her ear. She didn't dare to move or even look up to see into her kitten's face, her silly kitty that had suddenly turned so serious.

Her gaze was lost in the distance of the night, her body had suddenly turned weak and fragile. As if all of a sudden she wasn't strong and confident Ladybug anymore. But shy and timid Marinette who needed strong arms to be hold up to not fall backwards over the edge of the world.

"My Lady," he repeated his words, his voice had become thick and dense, as if it took him all his might to make his words come out of his mouth. "let me promise you this:" She felt his chest tremble under her palms. With every moment passing, she more and more felt herself falling into her true self, into Marinette, the Princess, that needed the saving, and not the Lady that saved everyone else.

"As long as I wear the ring of Chat Noir," he proceeded slowly, sobs rising through his throat. " as long as we both fight against evil, as long as I live, I will completely and unconditionally protect you from any harm there is on this planet." she heard him sniffle and a rain drop fell on her nose, tickling her skin slightly.

"I will protect you no matter what the price must be." She heard her heartbeat accelerate, pounce against her ribcage as if wanting to burst out of her chest. She feared he could possibly hear it too, the beating of her heart pressed against his , beating rhythmically together, composing a singular new melody that belonged only to them. i

"Chat?" Her voice quivered slightly, unlike her usual tone. Another rain drop fell exactly on the same spot the first had hit her, right on the tip of her nose. She blinked and for the first time she moved her head, rising her gaze towards Chat's in order to look him in the eye.

Only then did she understand it hadn't been raindrops to fall on her face, but salty tears. His tears.

Her petrified face fell immediately at the sight of him.

"Chat..." she breathed his name, inhaling his scent by doing so

"But if ever something might happen to me," he proceeded now looking directly into her eyes, not caring to show her his emotions, for he was hiding too much already from her just by wearing a black spandex and a mask. The grip around her wrist became stronger, not as much to harm her though. She couldn't take her eyes of him, no matter how much she wanted to.

" If I ever do turn evil, just as you feared, and there is no other way to stop me but to ..." It was then their roles switched and it was no longer her to have fallen into her real self, but Chat to have subdued himself to his human fears and it was Ladybugs turn to hold onto Adrien as much as she could" His voice died down, leaving the two heroes in silence. His hand though remained on her wrist, not wishing to let her go.

She stared back at him, her eyes wide open in shock, her lips slightly parted as he suddenly let himself fall slightly forwards, pressing his forehead against her shoulder and holding onto her not any less than before.

"Do whatever you got to do to save yourself, my Lady." he whispered.

A surprised gasp escaped her lips and it took her quite a moment to realize, he was embracing her, just as he had embraced her right after she had jumped into the mouth of the T-rex, back when it was Animan they had been fighting against and he had thought her to be dead.

She still couldn't answer him back, not knowing what possibly she could reply to him after this heartbreaking speech he had made to her. She could feel them, tears linger in her eyes, wanting to roll down her cheeks. She could feel her bottom lip quiver and her sobs raise in her throat. But she did anything to hold them back, anything to not show her kitty how much he had moved her to tears. Because she knew he somehow would ruin the moment, and she desperately wanted to hold onto it, as long as possible. What she couldn't do though was stop her arms from throwing themselves around him and hug him back as tight as she could.

At first he was shocked. Never could he have imagined her, Ladybug, react this way to something that cheesy and romantic he had said. But after a fraction of a second, his arms instinctively tightened around her waist, pressing her heartily against his body. Her hair that was tickling his nose filled his nostrils with the sweet scent of vanilla and strawberry. Her small hands were wrapped around him and she didn't show any will in retrieving herself from him. And as long as she wouldn't inch back from him, he would stay just in that pose, if needed even a lifetime long. They stayed that way, wrapped up in each other's arms for several minutes, when suddenly out of nowhere sirens destroyed their peaceful moment of devotion. Marinette watery eyes instinctively shot open and her mind pushed aside all her racing thoughts and the echoing of her fastened heartbeat in her head, concentrating herself completely on their surroundings. Chat, frowned at that reaction of his Lady, but he followed his Lady's lead and turned his head in the direction she was facing and from which she believed the sound of sirens was coming from. While Ladybug was searching for any sign of what could have happened, taking out her yo-yo and looking up the news, Chat retrieved his arms from her and sighted deeply, whipping the remaining tears from his face, pained by the loss of her warmth against his body.

"What's going on?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips and trying to recover from his moment of weakness. He tried as best as he could to hid his annoyance towards the fact that his romantic moment with his lady had been shattered to pieces by who knows who. In the distance they saw the flickering blue lights and police cars racing fast across the streets of Paris

"There has been a robbery." She explained, closing her yo-yo and watching where the police cars were heading to in the distance. "Some rich man's house has been robbed. A very precious vase of unbelievable value has been taken. The only trace that was left behind was a red fox hair, for what the police could identify it as."

"A fox hair? What's that supposed to mean?" He asked in utter confusion.

"It means we're not done yet today." she announced, making herself ready to fight. She was standing tall and straight, her gaze following the hordes of police vehicles that were racing through Paris.

"The night is still young." he tried to joke, though halfheartedly, disappointment still lingering in his heart. He closed his eyes and stretched his arms high in the air, arching his black leather covered back. His bell rang solemnly by his movements that suddenly ceased when he felt something brush slightly against his cheek. He immediately opened his eyes and saw her standing right next to her, her lips mere inches away from his right cheek that had already turned deeply red where she had pecked him.

"Thank you, Chat." She whispered and turned immediately around, hiding the blush that had spread across her face. With one move she was already gliding in the air, while he cupped his cheek and watched her fly like a real ladybug into the distance.

Only when he had lost her sight did he remember he too had to be on his way.

So he jumped of the roof and did what he could do best.

Be Chat Noir.


End file.
